comment

The space, at 380 Main St., will soon turn into a Willy Wonka-like confectionery of chocolate, candy and creative milkshakes -- known as freak shakes -- sometime around Columbus Day weekend (think Oct. 7 or 8).

Hilary Assael, a self-taught baker, is opening the shop -- aptly named Sugar Hi -- with her twin sister, Elissa Weinhoff, after years of baking cakes for friends and family.

Assael admits she was a bored stay-at-home mom when she started her business 13 years ago. After buying a host of expensive cakes for her kid's birthday parties, she figured she could do better.

"I was always creative," she said. "And had a vision and a drive." (For many years, in fact, she worked as a personal stylist to Marlo Thomas.)

Once she started -- many of her cakes come in the shape of Gucci suitcases, photo albums, and cityscapes -- she found herself baking up a storm -- and thinking about a store-front business.

Over the years she and Weinhoff, an EMT with the Armonk Fire Department, looked at spaces but nothing was right.

The new spot -- close to both of their homes -- was perfect.

Sugar Hi will be more than cakes, however. There will be high-end chocolates, authentic Belgian waffles (she's imported a waffle machine from Belgium) and twists on American favorites like homemade pop tarts, ring-dings, oversized rice crispy treats, and banana pudding.

There will also be a full ice cream shop with l6 flavors and the ever-popular, ever Instagrammable freak shakes --a mash-up of ice cream, cake, sauce, sweets and more.

And then there's the candy. Assael will have 96 bins filled with almost anything you can imagine.

Sugar Hi's website and Facebook page are under construction so stay tuned.